Organosilicon compounds made from styrenes



United States Patent 3,355,476 ORGANOSILICON COMPOUNDS MADE FROM STYRENES Alvin E. Bey and Donald R. Weyenberg, Midland, Mich., assignors to Dow Corning Corporation, Midland, Mich., a corporation of Michigan No Drawing. Filed Aug. 5, 1964, Ser. No. 387,773 6 Claims. (Cl. 260-4482) comprising reacting at a temperature of 15 to +35 C., in the presence of an inert solvent which is essentially free of active hydrogen, (a) one molar part of a compound of the formula RLi, (b) from 1 to 10 molar parts of a compound of the formula R RSiX, and (c) from 0.5 to 10 molar parts of a compound of the for mula ingredient (a) being added to the mixture last, where R is a nontertiary alkyl radical of no more than six carbon atoms, R is an alkyl radical of more than 1 carbon atom, R is selected from the group consisting of nontertiary alkyl radicals of no more than 6 carbon atoms and aryl radicals, Q is an alkyl radical of no more than 6 carbon atoms, 11 is an integer of 0 to 2, and X is a halogen atom.

R can be any nontertiary (i.e. primary and secondary) alkyl radical of no more than six carbon atoms such as methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, sec-butyl or hexyl.

R can be any alkyl radical of more than one carbon atom such as ethyl, isopropyl, t-butyl, hexyl, 2-ethylhexyl, dodecyl, or octadecyl.

R" can be any nontertiary alkyl radical of no more than six carbon atoms such as the radicals listed as examples of R. R can also be any aryl radical such as the phenyl, tolyl, benzyl, naphthyl, or biphenyl radical.

Q can be any alkyl radical of no more than 6 carbon atoms such as methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, t-butyl, or sechexyl.

X can be any halogen atom, e.g. fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine.

R and R" must be nontertiary because of steric considerations which can accelerate an undesirable side reaction to dominant proportions.

Any solvent that is essentially free of active hydrogen and is otherwise nonreactive toward the ingredients and products of this application is suitable for use. The term inert is used in the claims to express this nonreactivity.

oxygen, sulfur, or phosphorus atom.

Examples of suitable solvents are tetrahydrofuran, diethylether, hexane, cyclohexane, decane, benzene, toluene, and xylene.

Preferred solvents are hydrocarbon ethers and hydrocarbons of low viscosity (i.e. less than 10 cs. at 25 C.).

It is desirable for sufiicient solvent to be present so that the reaction mixture is fluid throughout the reac- An active hydrogen is one that is bonded to a nitrogen,

tion, but the amount of solvent present is not critical.

Ingredient (a) must be added last because it can react with either ingredient (b) or (c) alone. Therefore a mixture of ingredients (b) and (c) must be present to minimize such side reactions.

The reaction is exothermic, and the alkyl lithium catalyst is unstable at temperatures greatly above room temperature; therefore it is desirable to run the reaction at room temperature or 'below (i.e. below 25 C.). At temperatures below 5 C., the reaction becomes undesirably sluggish. Therefore the preferred temperature range is from 5 to 25 C.

The products of this invention are useful as solvents,

"and as intermediates for the preparation of beta-substituted ethylbenzenes. Many beta-substituted ethylbenzenes, for example of this invention, which is a Well-known process, gives beta-substituted ethylbenzenes as shown by the followin formula:

RzRSiCHCHaR' and alcohol The following examples are illustrative only and should not be construed as limiting the invention which is properly delineated in the appended claims.

Example 1 HmsicnonnomncHz B.P. 142 C. at 121 mm. pressure.

Other products that were recovered were n-butyl-trimethylsilane and unreacted styrene.

Example 2 The experiment of Example 1 was repeated, using diethylether rather than tetrahydrofuran, and maintaining the reaction temperature between 10 and 15 C.

There wasrecovered 22.8 g. (0.097 mole) of l-phenylhexyltrimethylsilane.

3 Examp e 3 The experiment of Example 1 was repeated, using hexane rather than tetrahydrofuran. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1% days.

There was recovered 19.3 g. (0.082 mole) of l-phenylhexyltrimethylsilane.

Example 4 The experiment of Example 1 was repeated using a solution of 0.2 mole of isobutyllithium in 100 ml. of pentane in place of n-butyllithium hexane.

4 Example 7 The experiment of Example 1 was repeated using a solution of 0.2 mole of t-butyllithium in 115 ml. of pentane in place of n-butyllithium in hexane. The reaction was run at a temperature of 15 to C.

The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight.

39 grams of (CH3)3SiCHCH2C (CH3);

were recovered, B.P. 239 C. at 737 mm. pressure- No t-butyltrimethylsilane was found to be present.

Example 8 When the experiment of Example 1 is repeated, replacing the reactants of that experiment with the following reactants, the following products are formed:

Beactants Product (2) 1 mole ethyllithium, 4 moles diethyl-l-methylpentylbromosilane, 0 H;

1 mole p-methylstyrene, 4 moles benzene.

(CH );CH(CH )3Si GHCH CH CH;

(b) 1 mole Z-ethylhexylli'thium, 1 mole phenyldimethylchlorosilane, CH

mole m-butyl-m-methylstyrene, 2 moles CH3OCHzCH2OCH3. l

Sli CHCH2CH2CIHCH2C HzCHaCHa 0 H3 C 2H5 0 H3 C 4H9 (c) 1 mole octadeeyllithium, 10 moles tripropyliodosilane, 10 moles (C3H7) SiCHCH2(CisHs7) o-hexylstyrene, 5 moles cyclopentane.

The reaction mixture was stirred for 2 hours at room Example 9 temperature.

8.7 grams (0.037 mole) of (CHs)sSiCHCHzCHzCH(CHa)2 were recovered, B.P. 110 125 C. at 13 mm. pressure.

Example 6 (OHQzSiCHCHzSJHCHzCHi CH3 was recovered, B.P. 138- 143 C. at 18-19 pressure. I

No sec-butyltrimethylsilane was found to be present.

A mixture of 8 grams (0.034 mole) of (CH3) asiCHCHzC (CH3):

yield) of onzome (CH3);

B.P. -127" C. at 74 mm. pressure.

Example 10 When the following silanes are hydrolyzed in the manner of Example 9, the following hydrocarbons are produced:

Silane Hydrocarbon CzH (a) (CHQ CIEKCHzhI CHCHzCHzCHg CH C CHz(CHg)2CH CzHs (3H3 C4Ho (b) Sli CHCH2CHz(IJH(CH2) CH3 CHzCH2CHg(|1H(CHfl)3CH CH3 CzHs CH3 02115 (c) a mSiCHCHAOmHm) Cameraman CaHia CaHta That which is claimed is I RHRHSiCHCERI 1. The process of making a compound of the formula where each I R is a nontertiary alkyl radical of no more than 6 car- R R SlCHCH R bon atoms,

R is an alkyl radical of more than 1 carbon atom, Qn R" is selected from the group consisting of nontertiary comprising reacting at a temperature of -15 to +35 C., in the presence of an inert solvent which is essentially free of active hydrogen,

(a) one molar part of a compound of the formula RLi, (b) from 1 to 10 molar parts of a compound of the formula R RSiX, and (c) from 0.5 to 10 molar parts of a compound of the formula ingredient (a) being added to the mixture last, where 2. A compound of the formula alkyl radicals of no more than 6 carbon atoms and aryl radicals, Q is an alkyl radical of no more than 6 carbon atoms, and

n is an integer of 0 to 2.

(CHgkSiCHCHflCHQQCEh (CH3)3SiCHCH2C (CH3)3 (OHs)aSiCHCH2(|3HCHaCH (CH3)3SiCHCH2CH2CHCH3 No references cited.

I. PODGORSKI, Assistant Examiner. 

1. THE PROCESS OF MAKING A COMPOUND OF THE FORMULA 